Drake, who is gearing up for the release of his sophomore album “Take Care,” recently sat down for an interview with GQ Magazine, where the rapper dished on a range of topics, including working with Andre 3000, his ideal girl, still getting rejected by women and more. GQ even gets Drizzy to open up about his sweater collection and give his take on the whole “Lil Wayne vs. Jay-Z” beef (Guess whose side he’s on!).
He also wishes people would stop calling him overly emotional. “People always act like I spend my life crying in a dark room. I don’t, I’m good. I’m a man. I want to be remembered as an artist that gave you a piece of me, as opposed to some surface bullshit,” he explained.
Read more excerpts below:
GQ: You announced the title of this album, Take Care, with us back in December. What does it mean?
Drake: No one has actually asked me that yet. I came up with the name when I was on a bus in Birmingham, England, going to a show. “Take Care” is this thing we use in passing conversation to dismiss bullshit like, “Oh, you couldn’t make it on time? Oh, take care, take care.” We’ve always used that and then I really took so much care making this album. I knew I was going to go home and take longer than six months, I knew that I was literally going to take care of making this project and be attentive, be clear, be immersed in it. “Take Care” worked.GQ: Some of the features on this album are crazy. Wayne, Nicki, Rihanna, some unknown guy named Andre 3000…
Drake: He murdered that shit! He killed it and 40 switched the beat, it’s nasty. I didn’t get to see him record, but speaking with him was great and we even spoke about projects beyond “The Real Her.”GQ: Who’s the ideal girl for Drake?
Drake: Who’s the ideal girl? She is very funny, very supportive, understands that right now I’m trying to build with somebody. The ideal girl is driven, working on something other than modeling or being a singer…GQ: Or being seen.
Drake: Or being seen! She’s probably in New York to be honest with you. There are a lot of good women in New York.GQ: Everyone with vocal cords uploaded their own version of your “Marvins Room” to YouTube. Whose version was your favorite?
Drake: I mean everybody says JoJo’s but you know I don’t really have a favorite. Actually, my version is my favorite and I never say stuff like that. But really though, my version is my favorite because there is such a story behind it.GQ: Let’s get into the story. “The woman that I would try, is happy with a good guy.” Who’s the girl you’re talking about?
Drake: It’s not about one particular female. It’s just an emotion that I’ve experienced. I’ve texted girls late at night saying, “I miss you,” and she’ll be like, “I’m out on a date.” She is happy, somewhere else.GQ: Wait, you’re one of the top artists in the world right now. That still happens to you, in 2011?
Drake: Yeah, definitely.GQ: What type of wildly successful girls are you dating to where they’d dis you? Oprah?
Drake: [laughs] I wish I dated Oprah. No, they’re mostly girls from Toronto that know the real me and don’t give a fuck about who “Drake” is or what he’s accomplished. And then there are a lot of girls who get a kick out of doing that to me because of who I am. A lot of girls want to purposefully drive a point home.GQ: I think Thank Me Later was the best album on the shelves when it came out, but you felt like you could have made a better album.
Drake: I’m in agreeance with that, definitely that combined with the videos for “Miss Me” and “Fancy.”I just watched the videos and was like, “What the fuck are these videos about?” That’s why “Fancy” never came out. It was a weird moment.GQ: On to something a little lighter. We’re GQ, so we have to ask: What’s up with the sweaters?
Drake: [laughs] Now, this I have been asked about several times.GQ: Do you have a favorite?
Drake: Yes, I do. It’s a toss-up between three sweaters. I’d say one would be obviously the OVO Owl Sweater. I can wear it repetitively and no one calls me out on it. I have a cashmere Hermes sweater that I love. Lastly, any of my Missoni sweaters. I don’t give a fuck what anybody says about my Missoni sweaters! Fuck you, if you don’t like my sweater! [Editor’s note: A middle-aged couple sitting next to us sharply turn their heads.] It’s funny because people only talk about me and sweaters because I don’t give them anything else to talk about. I live in Canada, so any dirt I do you’ll never see because we don’t have the paparazzi up there! It’s the stupidest thing, man, but I’ll embrace it. Hopefully Missoni hollers at me and we get a sweater line popping!GQ: When Lil Wayne and Jay-Z made passing references to each other earlier this year, did you feel like you were in a compromising situation? We know you really look up to Jay and you really look up to Wayne.
Drake: I’m just riding with Wayne, always. I’ll never sit here and say that Wayne compromised me. I’m just doing what I got do. I’m a Cash Money soldier. That’s who I ride for.GQ: Do you think it was blown out of proportion?
Drake: I mean, not really. I think it was pretty clear-cut. I think anybody denying anything at this point is silly. And I’ve said that before for either of them to say, “Oh, no man, I didn’t mean it,” it’s like, “Yes you did, man”. But it’s all good, it’s what rap is about. It’s a competitive business.GQ: You appeared on Wayne’s ” It’s Good,” which made reference to Jay. Would you have gotten on “H.A.M.” with Jay-Z, where he made the initial reference?
Drake: If I had heard it? No. Because Wayne’s done way more for my career than Jay-Z. Wayne is the reason I’m here. Jay-Z did that for Cole, that’s his artist. Cole’s my brother, he’s an artist I respect so much but I know he’d say the same thing. We’ve got bosses. We’re just falling in line, doing what we got to do.GQ: People talk a lot of shit, anything you wish they’d stop saying?
Drake: That’s tough. I wish that we lived in a time and a generation where people would stop viewing my honesty as overly emotional. People always act like I spend my life crying in a dark room. I don’t, I’m good. I’m a man. I want to be remembered as an artist that gave you a piece of me, as opposed to some surface bullshit. I don’t think people realize that we die, we leave here, and either they forget about you or remember you. And how they remember you is up to you. I just want to be remembered as a poet that was open and honest because I wake up every morning and I’m me.[GQ]
